Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-04-08
LITERARY BOSTON.
What Boston Authors and Publishers are
Doing-A Book Lovers Gossip.
correspondence of the Free p. css.l

Correspondence of the Free p. ess1
Inasmuch as it is Lent. and the world is
supposed to be in state of mind border
ing on repentance upon past sins prepare
tory to a fresh campaign. such book as
Possibilities" by Rev. Thomas l.. Bailey,
which ID. Lothrop q Co. have Just issued
is altogether timely, at least, so far as its
intentions are concerned. 1t is book
written with a distinct purpose. The
story is located at some seaport town, evi-
IDENTIFY on Cape Cod, although not Pro
yincetown, 1t begins with the eminently
righteous proposition of a schoolmstress
to accept certain unruly school, do a
mans work therein-for the pay of man
and, by the way, she gets it. The rest of
the book is divided besween her ways of
managing to make knowledge acceptable
70 her pupils and the similarly strenuous
efforts of a new minister who came to the
neglected parish at about the same time,
although his share of the book is much
She largest. AS result, the book is, as
! have stated, an excellent one for Lent.
Another book from the same firm is
Frank r. Converse's "The Adventures OF
Fad," and is one which | can heartily
commend. Tad is street Arab of the
'ttNI6I hlHNI. w ulIt warming nlIllStIl Ill II
station one night he sees man forget his
satChel and tries to take it to him, but
through a misunderstanding of his mo-
tive by a policeman and dash for threat
ened liberty, he finds himself on a train
dying toward Boston. From there after
many mishaps he ultimately falls in with
a good hearted skipper of a coaster who
carries him to his home in Maine, where
the!homelife described is so true and whole
ONE, the whole tone of the book is SO
Tree from sensationalism, yet so boylike
and interesting, that | would much like
TO shake hands with the author The story
winds up with furry over a'sharper who
traced the satchel and tries to steal it and
obtain an offered reward.
Ticknor 81 Co. are lucky this season.
They have just issued two more capital
books. First, "The Strike in the Mill"
in the Round Robin series. 1t is a very
thoughtful, dispassionate study of the
causes, the progress, rise and fall of just
such strike as we have been favored
with, round and about 1t credits the
leaders with all honesty of purpose while
it ventilates the tyranny which declares
chat a man shall or shall not work accord
ing as he Is or is not a member of some
trades union, for the depths of deviltry
Of which there has been no adequate eX-
FOUNDER since the days of Charles Reade.
It would pay any mill owner if he were to
buy up whole edition of this book and
every man, woman and child in his en-
ploy, | only regret that, being in an
anonymous series, the authors name is
not on the title page. | should be proud
il it were my own. The other book is
Two Gentlemen of Boston, also anony-
nous, and by the way, it is singular
coincidence that during the same week a
New York firm have published book
called 1.-Two Gentlemen of Gotham" /
trust it is as good.
The Boston book is good certainly. True
lis long, nearly 500 pages, and rather
small type at that, which makes it longer
than it seems; but now that have read
It | cannot look back and point to page
which | should willingly excise. 1t is a
girls autobiography, beginning in coun
try town, with queer sort of mother
who ultimately turns out to be none at
all, by the way, deserving the girl for a
stage life. And the first half at least has
dreary vein, a Dickensy vein, of perhaps
4 cross between the latter apd the minor
key of the now famous book "The Story
Of a Country Town" New faces come in,
old ones drop out, reappear family and
vanish in most lifelike, though not al
ways satisfactory way but the two gen
tlemen" do not come in until the book is
half over, and simultaneously with the
irst springing up of pretty love story a
general warming to rose color begins in
the tone. The scene shifts to Boston,
where are successfully described in the
home where our heroine is employed as
secretary, an altogether charming lady
whose life is rich with good works, bit
ter hearted maiden sister in-law of the
above and her brother whom the author
tries tries to delineate as one of our
wealthy and highly accomplished scamps,
but While she leaves us in state OF I'M
comfortable suspicion as to his character
II is so done by innHendoes and sugges-
lions, and so little by direct acts of this
most outwardly proper individual, ac-
cording to society canons, that it results
IN making him rather unpleasant than
otherwise, and the least satisfactory char
acter in the book; and yet, taken by him
self he is well done The book ends in Il
very bright and unexpected manner, in
which 1t is again limited, but only limited
hat the aforesaid scamp received his just
deserts in the way of heart -breaking; anC
The reader stops, in doubt as to whether
he is satisfied with this Italian rapiel
method Of pinking the rascal. or whether
a good hearty sledgehammer would no
more fully crafty his soul. TRUE.